County leaders this summer may take up a vote to add a seat exclusively for Long Beach on the Los Angeles County Metro\u2019s Board of Directors, the agency that oversees the nation\u2019s second-largest transit system.<\/p>\n
In a letter to a board committee<\/a> on Tuesday, County Supervisor Janice Hahn, whose district includes Long Beach, argued that many of the county\u2019s 88 cities are underrepresented on the agency\u2019s board, leading to planning and funding decisions that favor the city of Los Angeles at the expense of farther-flung municipalities.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to shape a Metro Board that better represents the diversity of our vast county as well as the needs of people who regularly rely on Metro,\u201d Hahn said. \u201cLong Beach is the second-biggest city in L.A. County and a regional powerhouse. It\u2019s time that its almost half a million residents had a dedicated, permanent voice on this Board, and I\u2019m hoping that my colleagues on the Ad Hoc Board Composition Committee agree.\u201d<\/p>\n Hahn also recommended adding a board seat for someone who rides the train regularly, as well as allowing board members to designate alternate members who can vote in their absence.<\/p>\n Keep up with LAist.<\/p>\n If you’re enjoying this article, you’ll love our daily newsletter, The LA Report. Each weekday, catch up on the 5 most pressing stories to start your morning in 3 minutes or less. <\/p>\n The board currently has 13 members who vote on contracts worth billions of dollars for construction, trains, computers and all the other hardware needed for a transit system to send riders from the coast to the Inland Empire.<\/p>\n Members include all five county supervisors, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass and three seats she appoints. The remaining four seats are shared by 87 cities divided into four geographic areas: North County and San Fernando Valley, San Gabriel Valley, Southeast County and Long Beach, and Southwest Corridor.<\/p>\n Long Beach shares the Southeast sector with 26 other cities, even though it accounts for a quarter of the sector\u2019s weighted voting power \u2014 given its population of more than 462,000 \u2014 which gives it an incredible sway in who is elected to the seat.<\/p>\n The sector selects its leadership through an L.A. County City Selection Committee<\/a>, which consists of 26 city representatives, who cast votes based on their population. Long Beach has 46 of the 164 total votes.<\/p>\n Breaking off Long Beach into its own seat would serve a dual purpose, Hahn said, of giving not only Long Beach better representation but also a better chance for the smaller cities to vie for the seat.<\/p>\n Several organizations expressed support for the new seat, including representatives from the Long Beach Chamber of Commerce, the city of Long Beach, the Downtown Long Beach Alliance, Congressman Robert Garcia and Long Beach Mayor Rex Richardson.<\/p>\n This comes as Richardson was appointed to the seat on Tuesday, filling a vacancy left behind by outgoing Whittier City Councilman Fernando Dutra. Richardson is expected to join the MTA board officially in July.<\/p>\n Talks to overhaul Metro\u2019s leadership run parallel to other governance changes seen across Los Angeles County, which began with the voter-approved Measure G in 2024 to create an elected County CEO in 2028 and grow to a nine-member Board of Supervisors in 2032.<\/p>\n Given their schedule, the Metro Board could take the matter to a vote as early as July, though Hahn\u2019s office says it may take time to iron out the details of the seat and how to handle its appointment process.<\/p>\n